Human-wildlife conflict is a serious obstacle to wildlife conservation worldwide and is becoming more prevalent as human populations increase, development expands, the global climate changes and other human and environmental factors put people and wildlife in greater direct competition for a shrinking resource base.
Improving our responses to human-wildlife conflict requires greater consultation not only among wildlife professionals and between their organizations, but also with economic and social development organizations, land use planners, agribusiness, and other key decision makers. Successful responses to conservation conflicts frequently require individual professionals to reach outside their own disciplines for needed tools, skills and perspectives. Interdisciplinary collaboration, as well as collaboration between sectors, is critical to improving the understanding of underlying causes needed to shift the emphasis from reactive mitigation of conflict to proactive prevention strategies.
The Human-Wildlife Conflict Collaboration (HWCC) is pioneering efforts to facilitate collaborative learning among diverse partners so that we may improve our collective ability to address the root causes of conservation conflicts. HWCC is unique in that it provides a neutral global forum upon which to convene the individuals, institutions and sectors working on, or affected by, conflict in conservation. Through this forum and our collaborative work, we will help wildlife professionals and key decision makers shift our efforts from a reactive mitigation of human-wildlife conflict to a proactive, prevention of all conservation conflicts.
News and Events
Read the press release issued by the four zoos that sponsored the HWCC training in Kenya
Analyzing and Transforming Conflict to Create Sustainable Solutions for People and Wildlife
June 4-9, 2012
Gaborone, Botswana
Registration deadline is May 4. Learn more about the training.
Analyzing and Transforming Conflict to Create Sustainable Solutions for People and Wildlife
November 5-8, 2012
Houston Zoo in Houston, Texas
Registration deadline is September 30. Learn more about the training.
Note: HWCC training courses are certified by The Wildlife Society.